Death Before Derailleur
Recently I rode a fixed gear to Ostende in Belgium and I almost blew my knees out. Despite the story having a happy return journey, I decided it was time to build something a bit more practical..
This is my first Robby’s hobby I’ve had since buying a house. It’s a 90s Thorn Audax mk1 (I think) and I’ve only had it a week so haven’t had a chance to take it further than Reculver castle, when I took it for a (high cadence) test ride to get the gear indexing right.
I splashed out on my first ever Brooks saddle, along with the Super-C Saddlebag, which I chose because it’ll also fit to my track frame (which has no pannier or bike cage fittings), if I ever want to take it out for a long day without a backpack. I’ve also got some modifications planned before my next trip to the continent. I bought an Arundel Looney Bin bottle cage to hold a fat 9cm diameter 1ltr water bottle, some bar tape etc. The previous owner chucked in a pair of cheap panniers which will probably do me for now, but next year I might upgrade to the Ortliebs or something if my shit starts to get wet.
Unlike the Sid Mottram, I’m not going to be precious about the look of this bike. I want to reuse what I already own, buy decent reliable gear, go pre-owned where possible, without spending extra for a retro aesthetic or a chrome finish.